Chelsea's Qualification Hopes Dealt a Blow by Defeat at Atalanta
At a Glance
- Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
- Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
- Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
- The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.
The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.
Each club entered this game with the same records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.
For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.
But Atalanta remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.
James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.
The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful finish.
Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.
The final score means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.
The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.
Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues
This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.
But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.
The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the lead.
But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all tournaments.
Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four games.
Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the first team.
The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.
The coach will see rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.
"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.
"If you see the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.
"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."
What's Next for These Teams?
Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.
